In 1935, General Billy Mitchell, testifying before the House of Representatives, said:

I believe that in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world… I think it is the most important strategic place in the world.

This may be one of the most prescient geopolitical observations of the early 20th century. Alaska is, as I write regularly, the crown of the Pacific, and the Aleutians control the gateway to the Arctic. We ignore that at our peril. //

anon-x8p1
an hour ago edited
Excellent history of the forgotten WWII front in the Aleutians: The 1000 Mile War.

Highly readable. Japanese were relentless and dug in up and down these remote islands, where the weather itself caused the death of more US soldiers than active warfare.

Their story is as compelling as the War in the Pacific and the European theater - just buried and forgotten as the site of a few military missteps when the weather itself forced errors.

Interforce rivalry and personalities played roles too: was this going to be an Army/Airforce War or a Navy War? But it did leave us with the AlCan Highway and now annual arrival of the millions of Alaska visitors every summer who typically know very little about why this highway was even built in the first place - just one of many challenge fighting in the American Ice Box.